Cape cop charged in sex case released on bond

A Cape Coral police officer accused of having sex with a 16-year-old girl bonded out of jail Thursday afternoon.

Casey Ortiz, 34, made his first appearance in front of a judge earlier in the day. His bond was set at $50,000 and he is to have no contact with the teenager.

Detectives say Ortiz started up a sexual relationship with the girl after responding to a call at her home.

Her parents filed a complaint with the department and Ortiz was swiftly removed from the force. He was arrested Wednesday.

"Please don't make Mr. Ortiz the devil in sheep's clothing, because he is a good officer and he's been doing God's work for a very, very long time," said defense attorney Joe Viacava.

Cape Coral resident Larry Hoskins met Ortiz when he responded to a call at his home. Hoskins says he was so moved by Ortiz's help, he wrote a thank you letter to the department.

"[He was] a motivated young man. I thought he had the background, he had a lot going for him," Hoskins said.

Now he's shocked by the allegations, but says he wants to wait before passing judgment.

Hoskins said no matter the outcome, the damage is done.

"Nothing good will come of this, I'm afraid, and even if he's exonerated, and even if he's found completely innocent of any charges, the community will still have a very bad feeling about it," Hoskins said.

We obtained Ortiz’s arrest warrant that contains explicit details leading up to the officer’s arrest.

In the arrest warrant was the 16-year-old’s story about how Ortiz would pick her up in his police car and take her to his Cape Coral house to have sex.

Investigators say the Cape Coral police officer picked up the 16-year-old at least three times – twice to have sex.

Investigators say Ortiz responded to a call at the teen’s house back in September after she had a dispute with her parents. That’s when Ortiz allegedly gave the teen his personal cell phone number.

The girl says she and Ortiz would talk through text and an app called “KiK.”

A week later, the teen says Ortiz asked her to ride along in his police car. He then took her to his Cape Coral home.

A month later, she says he then picked her up again and took her to his house a second time. That’s when they had sex after investigators say “the officer then pulled [her] pants off, but she tried to resist this.”

The teen then says she called Ortiz for another ride along.

The police department says no paperwork was ever filed for a ride along.

“It’s going to be very interesting to see if the State Attorney’s Office is going to have the witnesses to support this or if it’s just this young lady’s creative mind alleging this,” said Viacava.

Viacava says Ortiz contacted him months ago.

“That he turned himself in is voluntary. He never ran for no reason,” said Viacava.

In the arrest warrant, Ortiz admitted to picking up the minor in his police car.

While investigators say “Ortiz was adamant he did not have sex with [the teen], but did admit he was wrong to take her in his car.”

The teen says Ortiz never gave her his name and told her not to tell anyone they were involved. She identified Ortiz when investigators showed her pictures of different officers.

Ortiz is on unpaid administrative leave.

Police have handed the case over to the State Attorney's Office, but they will also conduct an internal investigation of Ortiz's actions.